The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
A seat for a vehicle is configured to slide in forward/rearward directions of the vehicle by using a seat rail. The seat rail for a vehicle includes a fixed rail extending in the forward/rearward directions and being fixed to a floor panel in the vehicle, a moving rail combined with the fixed rail so as to slide along a longitudinal direction of the fixed rail, and a locking apparatus restricting sliding of the moving rail in the forward/rearward directions.
A method of operating the locking apparatus includes an electric-powered type using power of a motor and a manual type using a towel bar.
The towel bar has various names such as a slide lever, a seat rail lever, and a seat track lever.
Normally, the towel bar is provided on a first-row seat (a driver seat and a front passenger seat), and when a first-row seat passenger lifts up the towel bar, the seat rail is unlocked by operation of the locking apparatus and can slide in forward/rearward directions of the moving rail, and when the towel bar is lowered and restored to an initial position thereof as the towel bar lifted up by the passenger is released, the seat rail is locked by operation of the locking apparatus such that the moving rail cannot move.
Meanwhile, in the structure of the seat rail having the towel bar, when a rear seat passenger (a second-row seat passenger) stretches his or her feet to a space under the first-row seat, the locking apparatus may be brought into misoperation due to the feet of the rear seat passenger. Accordingly, the seat rail having the towel bar has an additional structure so as to prevent the misoperation of the locking apparatus due to the feet of a rear seat passenger.
In addition, the seat rail having the towel bar has an additional structure such that, even when a passenger unconsciously presses down the towel bar, the towel bar is not bent, thereby preventing a misoperation of the locking apparatus.
However, the conventional seat rail has separate structures to prevent the misoperation of the locking apparatus due to the feet of a rear seat passenger and to prevent deformation of the towel bar, thereby increasing manufacturing cost and weight due to an increased number of parts.